The invention relates to a switch used in various small electronic equipment, and more particularly, to a push switch which is mounted on a circuit board and includes an operating member adapted to be displaced in a direction parallel to the circuit board.
In such push switches, a resin case mounted on a circuit board has a recess formed therein. A conductive member is integrally provided in the case by insert molding and the like, and a part of the conductive member is disposed as a fixed electrode inside the recess. A movable electrode is additionally disposed inside the recess to be elastically displaced between a first position in which the moveable electrode is contacted with the fixed electrode and a second position in which the movable electrode is spaced apart from the fixed electrode.
The push switches are provided with an operating member. When a user presses the operating member in a state in which the switch is mounted on the circuit board, the operating member is moved in a direction parallel to the circuit board so that the movable electrode is displaced to the first position, and thus is electrically conductively connected with the fixed electrode. If the pressing force is removed, the moveable electrode is elastically returned to the second position, thereby canceling the electrically conductive state between the movable electrode and the fixed electrode (e.g., see Patent Document 1).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 4557043
In switches as described above, the pressing force exerted to move the operating member in the direction parallel to the circuit board, causes a component force in a direction parallel to the circuit board and a component force in a direction away from the circuit board, thereby acting to detach a part of the case from the conductive member. As the switches are downsized accompanying with downsizing in recent electronic equipment, the pressing force exerted by a user becomes higher relative to the structural strength of the switches. If the pressing force exceeds the structural strength of the switches, a part of the case is often broken and detached from the conductive member.